Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Central Asia is an important moment for Indian business to increase its presence in the region. Before doing so, it must consider the region’s geopolitical and security challenges—but once past these hurdles, the region has many investment opportunities

India must quickly recognise the evolving changes, challenges, and opportunities in Central Asia to avoid being relegated to the periphery of Eurasian trade AND geopolitics. It is now up to Prime Minister Modi to manage a rebalancing in Central Asia through diplomacy and cooperation rather than competition

As the Asian Development Bank – the region’s leading international financial institution – prepares to convene for its annual meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, it needs to reassess its approach to address the reality beyond the glowing headlines of a region on the rise

India will do well to expand its positive and trust-laden cooperation with Russia in commerce, technology, and education, into a broader regional one, and establish a more meaningful presence in Central Asia. This will also assist in the future acquisition of energy resources in the region.

The India-Kazakhstan relationship is in need of a massive overhaul. Manmohan Singh’s visit to Astana is full of possibilities that can transform the relationship from a short-sighted association into a broad-based, strategic, long-term one focusing on energy, security, trade and technology.